Pity: Andrew McMillan in Conversation with Jessica Andrews
The celebrated poet returns to Foyles to celebrate the paperback release of 'Pity', his rich and resonant debut novel, with 'Milk Teeth' author Jessica Andrews.
Set across three generations of a South Yorkshire mining family, Andrew McMillan’s Pity is a beautifully-rendered lament for a lost way of life, a lyrical meditation on masculinity, and a celebration of resilience and community.
Andrew McMillan was born in Barnsley in 1988. His debut collection of poetry, physical, was the only poetry book ever to win the Guardian First Book Award; it was also awarded a Somerset Maugham award, an Eric Gregory Award, the Aldeburgh First Collection Prize and in 2019 was voted as on of the Top 25 Poetry Books of the Past 25 Years by the Booksellers Association. His second collection, playtime, won the inaugural Polari Prize. A third collection, pandemonium, was published in 2021. He is a professor of contemporary writing at Manchester Metropolitan University and a fellow of the Royal Society of Literature. Pity is his debut novel.
Jessica Andrews is the author of Saltwater, which won the Portico Prize in 2020, and Milk Teeth, which was shortlisted for the Royal Society of Literature Encore Award in 2023. She is a Contributing Editor at ELLE magazine and she also writes for the Guardian, the Independent, BBC Radio 4 and the Architectural Review, among many others.
This event will be followed by an audience Q&A and book signing.
Tickets: £10 General Admission / £13 Book and Ticket, inc. a copy of Pity (RRP £9.99) Venue: The Auditorium (Level 6) at Foyles, 107 Charing Cross Road*
*Please note that the Auditorium at Foyles is fully accessible from the Ground floor lifts.
Image Credit: McMillan by Sophie Davidson
PityAndrew McMillan£9.99
Milk TeethJessica Andrews£9.99Sensual and wryly perceptive, the acclaimed author of Saltwater delivers a deftly wrought and emotionally devastating ac... SEE MORESensual and wryly perceptive, the acclaimed author of Saltwater delivers a deftly wrought and emotionally devastating account of a life lived in the shadows and a potential salvation in the ... SEE MORE
PhysicalAndrew McMillan£12.00*Winner of the 2015 Guardian First Book Award*Raw and urgent, these poems are hymns to the male body – to male friendshi... SEE MORE*Winner of the 2015 Guardian First Book Award*Raw and urgent, these poems are hymns to the male body – to male friendship and male love – muscular, sometimes shocking, but always deeply movi... SEE MORE
Saltwater: Winner of the Portico PrizeJessica Andrews£9.99With a sharp eye for millennial ennui and the shifting sands of class, Jessica Andrews’ coming-of-age tale spotlights Lu... SEE MOREWith a sharp eye for millennial ennui and the shifting sands of class, Jessica Andrews’ coming-of-age tale spotlights Lucy, a working class Sunderland girl who wins a place at a London unive... SEE MORE
pandemoniumAndrew McMillan£10.00Formally experimental and stylistically inspired, McMillan's bold collection is a complex and multifaceted examination o... SEE MOREFormally experimental and stylistically inspired, McMillan's bold collection is a complex and multifaceted examination of mental health and its interrelationship with the natural world. SEE MORE
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100 Queer PoemsAndrew McMillan£10.99Mary Jean Chan and Andrew McMillan's luminous anthology, 100 Queer Poems, is a celebration of thrilling contemporary voi... SEE MOREMary Jean Chan and Andrew McMillan's luminous anthology, 100 Queer Poems, is a celebration of thrilling contemporary voices and visionary poets of the past. Featuring Elizabeth Bishop, Langs... SEE MORE